It was only 8 degrees in the Motorhome this morning (only 5 degrees outside as we discovered when we set off a bit later). Up for a walk with our raincoats on as there has been some rain during the night and there's still a bit of a drizzle. The Keas are about and living up to their mischievous reputation, as we spot one having a chew on the window rubber and radio aerial of a ranger's vehicle. We saw a few other birds around and some rabbits.
We've decided it's a good plan to set off before breakfast when it’s cold so that the heater warms up the van a bit. Today we headed for the car park of Tasman Glacier. After breakfast it is still drizzling (glad we did the Hooker Valley Track yesterday rather than leaving it until this morning) so we donned the raincoats again and climbed (and I mean climbed - although there were steps) to the top of the hill on the Tasman Glacier View Walk. At 23.5 kilometres in length, Tasman Glacier is still New Zealand's longest glacier, although it has shrunk considerably from the 1990s onwards. It is as much as 4 kilometres wide and 600 metres thick. Like the Hooker Glacier, the glacier is entirely rock-covered. Interestingly, the rock cover helps insulate the ice from the sunlight and slows down the melting process.
It was worth the climb. We had quite a spectacular view over Tasman Lake (icebergs and all) towards the glacier in the distance. The view would be even more spectacular on a fine day with Mount Cook in the background. We also looked down on Blue Lakes, which are now green. They were called Blue Lakes because historically they were below the level of the nearby glacier and the blue water used to seep through from the glacier. They even used it as a skating rink in winter. The glacier has now receded so much that it is well below the level of the lake, which now fills with rainwater. Being warmer it also supports green algal growth. At the lookout, they had some pictures of how much the glacier has changed over the years. If one is not sure if global warming exists, here's a good place to observe it in practice.
Back on the road we retraced our steps along the shore of the beautiful Lake Pukaki and then on to Twizel, a hydroelectric town built in 1968, where we had an enjoyable lunch at The Musterers Hut and did some grocery shopping at the 4 Square Supermarket.
Camp for the night was a little further down the road at Omarama, where we decided we needed power at the Top 10 Caravan Park. Time to recharge the van's battery (the only weak point we've found with the Motorhome so far) as well us visit a dump point and do some clothes washing - it's good to have clean clothes and clean bodies occasionally. Aylee and Nate, having missed their own cats, spent some time with Otis and Claws. Otis, a huge ginger cat, even followed them back to the camper. We also made good use of the camp kitchen to cook our Spaghetti Bol. A bit more room than in the Camper.
